Rankings and predictions for the 25th-50th ranked Free Agents will be posted the morning of Wednesday, 11/5. My top 25 will be posted on Saturday, 11/8. I am looking forward to getting your feedback and hopefully by March, looking back at a 60% clip, a 20% increase from the year before. Just for fun, here is the entire list of my predictions from last year; again, you can access my old blog to read the explanations for each pick.
Clay Buchholz, currently playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, pitched five innings of one run ball yesterday evening against the Mesa Solar Sox. Buchholz struck out three and walked two, dropping his ERA to 2.60 over his four starts for Scottsdale.
Buchholz will only be allowed to pitch 25 innings for the team, and after his latest start he is at 17.1 IP so it is likely he will only have two more starts in Arizona. The 24 year old has 12 strikeouts against only five walks so far. Opponents are batting .210 against Buchholz.
Just like 6.1% of all Americans during the economy's recession, Manny Ramirez is currently unemployed and looking for work. Worse yet for the guy, there is a good chance the new administration is going to tax the bejesus out of him to spread the wealth around. Talk about kicking a guy while he's down, right?
Standing in line at the soup kitchen, everyone talks about their dreams and aspirations for gainful employment. Manny the Ballplayer knows where he'd like to end up, too. According to a source in the New York Post, Ramirez wants to sign with the New York Yankees and have 19 chances a year to "punish" the Red Sox.
To recap, Rodriguez went to the bar to watch his favorite team play, they lost, he shot someone, then spent the next four years of his life in jail while the team, whose victory and alcohol fueled his murderous rage, wins two World Series titles.
There are so many reasons to love the sport of baseball. One of the top reasons for this writer is that even after 100 years of playing the nation's pastime, there is still a good chance that every year you'll see something that has never happened before. The 2008 World Series is a great example of that; not because of the Rays turnaround, or the Phillies dominance thus far, but because of the weather.
First and foremost, before this spreads any worse, please refrain from the annoying habit of adding the word "gate" to anything controversial. I would rather exchange text messages with Kwame Kilpatrick then look back 20 years from now and hear about the Weathergate World Series.
There will be plenty of space used throughout the print world and blogosphere regarding the decision to resign Jason Varitek or pursue other options behind the plate. Eventually, those opinionated pieces will dominate the headlines and RSS feeds, and ultimately, the front office will make a decision, followed by an inevitable flood of second guessing and subjective journalism. Before that storm hit the horizon, it seemed appropriate to present a preemptive look at the captain's most nostalgic moments with the team. Here are the top ten moments of Jason Varitek's career with the Boston Red Sox, presented by Fire Brand of the American League. Take advantage of the comments area to give us your personal ranking and moments that didn't make the list.
The Boston Herald and Boston Globe have both reported rumors in the past day or two regarding some intriguing starting pitchers. Jake Peavy of San Diego is available, although he will probably cost a Johan Santana-tyle ransom to pry from the West Coast. Derek Lowe, of LA and 2004 fame here in the Hub, has stated the Red Sox are his first choice.
Now, the Boston Red Sox are playing like the defending champions they are.
Tim Wakefield got shelled early and the trend continued as the Tampa Bay Rays now have a 3-1 lead over…
B. J. Upton and Rocco Baldelli both belted three-run home runs in the Rays 9-1 win over Boston to take…